James:
To make the neighborhood corners more attractive my hubby and I collect out-of-date political signs and yard sale signs – especially the ones posted on those H-style wire posts.
We reuse the wire posts to support plants by either just sticking them in the ground around the plants or by making ‘fences’ to keep them inbounds where they line walkways. We have
also made trellises by using them sideways, attaching them by string or wire and hanging them and then securing them at the base by using one or more in the normal way stuck in the
ground.
We’ve also used the signs themselves as shelf liners on wire shelves and back to back to make yard sale or for sale signs. Just hate to see anything go to waste. – Bellen
Dear Mr. Rawles:
Congratulations on the success of your latest novel! I just finished reading my copy.
I’ve been re-using the wires on those political signs for years – I don’t know what I’d do without the malleable, heavy wire. Where I live, politicos often don’t bother to collect the signs after the elections so I look forward to getting several on my usual travels. Even in rural areas those signs abound.
Some of the uses I’ve found:
- ‘U’ wires for keeping soaker hose in the ground, cut off a length and bend, push wire into ground. Make them big enough to find again to reuse and not get into the tiller. They’ll last about three years.
- U-shaped portions of the wire can be hammered in for other applications, too, like tent pegs, such as to keep a fence attached to the ground. Works well for something you think you might have to move, or to keep wire down when you bend it outward at the bottom of a fence to foil digging predators so you don’t trip on it.
- Frame for any wire doorway, especially chain link. Chain link has to be framed if you’re going to cut it. We use moveable runs for our fowls and needed to make ‘bird doors’. Found this wire just right to slip through the chain links, cut, and bend the ends of the link wire around the political sign wire as you go along. Works great. Think ahead when cutting chain link and plan each cut – otherwise things can unravel on you.
- Simple gate closure. The wire is heavy enough for a small gate, such as on a chicken run. A long piece with one end bent fits through standard heavy galvanized staples and then slides into a hole cut into the frame of the door. Very simple and it works. Push the bent part down when in the ‘closed’ position and if you’ve put a staple in the right places it will stay put. Not for applications that lock, obviously.
- Hooks for hanging light objects, like baskets from a beam, etc.
Best Regards, – Benedict